ANCIENT WORLD AT WAR, THE - A GLOBAL HISTORY

In this new survey of ancient warfare, a group of distinguished historians and archaeologists discusses major battles and wars from around the world. The book ranges in time from 8000 BC and the earliest evidence of warfare in northern Iraq to the armies of the Aztecs and Incas half a millennium ago, and includes Alexander the Great's triumphant campaigns against Persia in the fourth century BC, Caesar's Gallic Wars, the Han Chinese defeat of the nomadic Xiongnu horsemen, and the Inca ruler Atahualpa's last stand against Pizarro.
The authors combine descriptions of the course of military events with expert analyses and explanations of the underlying social, economic, and cultural factors that shaped ancient warfare. Their essays survey the evolution of armies, tactics, and military equipment, from the strategic mastery evident in an early Chinese treatise on war by Sunzi to the rise of the Greek hoplite warrior and the development of swords and armor in ancient Japan.